The Sri Lankan government has said that the proposed legislation against 'unethical conversions' (mainly from Buddhism to Christianity) is aimed only at the new-fangled evangelical movements bent on converting people, and not the established churches (such as the Catholic or the Methodist church).
This was stated in a letter written by the minister of Buddha Sasana, Ratnasiri Wickramanayake, to Dr Janet Epp Buckingham, Director of the Evangelical Fellowship of Canada, released to the media on Wednesday.
"I wish to categorically state that those professing the Christian religion should not be afraid, as this legislation is only against the misdeeds of those whose only ambition is to convert people of other religions by force to their evangelical faiths," Wickramanayake said.
He said that the proposed legislation stemmed from requests made by the clergy and religious organisations.
But he did not indicate whether the clergy and the religious organisations encompassed all religions.
Wickramanayake also said that government would form a Conciliatory Council comprising of members of all religions to "foster religious harmony".
The new fangled evangelists, who are also known as "Fundamentalists", are mostly foreign funded.
They are accused of brazenly using money and other allurements to convert poor Buddhists and Hindus to their brand of Christianity.
They are not part of any of the established Christian churches. In fact, the mainstream churches also complain that these new fangled churches are weaning away their flock with various promises.
The new evangelists register their organisations under Sri Lanka's Companies Act as non-profit making companies, borrow money from banks, and indulge in "non-profit making" economic activities, which allegedly aid the conversion process.
Though themselves victims of the new evangelists, the established churches are afraid that the anti-conversion law will be used against them too.
Though conversion is not their main aim or activity, some amount of conversion is done by them too.
They do a lot of charity, which can be misinterpreted as a means to get converts. Spreading the word of Christ and saving souls are considered legitimate spiritual activity.
But their methods are subtle, not brazen and unprincipled, like those of the new evangelists.
In a statement issued on Tuesday, the Catholic Bishops' Conference and the National Christian Council said that while they were opposed to unethical conversions, the proposed legislation would "pave the way for the oppression of minority religions in the country."
The legislation will 'seriously erode' the freedom of thought, conscience and religion guaranteed in the constitution and sanctioned by international conventions.
It would tar the image of Sri Lanka abroad, they warned.
"Our already oppressed people simply cannot be burdened with more restrictions of this nature," they added.
All religions urged their followers to do charitable works and it would be wrong to dub all such acts as allurements to get conversions, the statement argued.
It pointed out that all the four religions of Sri Lanka had cherished their right to propagate their doctrines throughout the world.
In other words, what the Christian churches are asking is: If Buddhism can be spread abroad, why cannot Christianity be spread here in Sri Lanka?
The two organisations called for discussions to find a 'democratic way' to deal with inter-religious tensions.